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Already over a month!

I can’t believe how long I’ve been in Peru! It’s gone by so fast, yet I also have gotten so used to life here. I’ve been trying to walk from the home stay to the school in the morning, and then take a colectivo (shared taxi – much cheaper) or taxi back at night. The walk is about a half hour to the school, so sometimes I take a colectivo instead in the mornings too. I’ve really loved the home stay so far. It’s great living with a family and being able to speak so much more Spanish!
Last week, there were three dentists here from Scotland. They were only here for a week, but it was amazing how much they contributed in such a short time! The examined all the students teeth and helped reorganize the toothbrushes we have at the school. Even though the kids brush their teeth at the school every day, a lot of them still have many cavities and dental issues. It’s especially tough to get the older kids to brush their teeth since they aren’t as used to it. The dentists showed all the kids how to brush their teeth correctly and talked to them about cavities, so I really hope it helps in the long run.
Last Friday, we practiced the play more with the kids. So far it’s going really well! They rehearsed more and made lots of colorful costumes out of paper. I’m hoping this coming Friday they will be able to perform it!
There also was no water at the school on Friday. We aren’t really sure why, so we were hoping to get it fixed over the weekend, but today it still wasn’t fixed. We had to bring big jugs of water from the apartment to use to make the kids snack. At the end of the day, it randomly turned back on! Hopefully it stays fixed.
This Saturday, I went with the family to Pastoruri since there was a festival all weekend. It was at the glacier that day, and the view was amazing! We left really early in the morning, but it was worth it cause I actually got to see snow! There was enough to build a mini snowman and have a snowball fight. There were even a lot of snowboarders and skiers around.
Over the weekend, two of the volunteers left. It’s so hard saying to goodbye to them, even though we haven’t known each other that long! I’m sure it’s really hard for the kids too, but they seem used to it, even though it’s sad. I’m really glad there are Peruvian volunteers that are there all the time, cause it gives the kids more consistency with all the international volunteers who have to leave.
Two more people also arrived this weekend, a new volunteer and new volunteer coordinator. They seem really great so far, and were a huge help at the school even on their first day there. One volunteer even is planning to help rebuild the fence in front of the school since he’s a carpenter. With that plus all the repainting we’ve been doing, it’s going to look really great.
Still trying to figure out what I can do for my capstone project! I have a little less than a month left, so I really want to get that going.